I remember years ago after visiting the culinary school that I eventually went to in Florida, I saw an incredible sign. I was driving back to St. Petersburg through the south central part of the state and the sky in front of me was dark with tremendous thunderstorms as the mid-afternoon July sun broiled overhead. The northwestern sky was ominous and the thick clouds became darker. It dawned on me that this was the perfect condition for a rainbow and sure enough, over my shoulder to the southest was the largest and most brilliant rainbow I had ever seen. It stretched from horizon to horizon for as far as I could possibly see and the colors were intense and so well defined it was awe-inspiring enough for me to pull over and stand in the rain to admire nature's beauty.

Unfortunately, I did not have a camera with me as it would have been a photo of immense beauty and scale, but I will surely never forget the glorious sight of that rainbow.

As I drove on and the rainbow haunted me in the rear-view mirror, I spent the next couple of hours contemplating this new adventure I was about to embark upon. I had plenty of reservations at the time about the choices that laid ahead of me. Was I ready to make this large scale change in life, was culinary school the right choice, was this particular school the right choice? What was it going to be like? Would I enjoy the work? How would I pay for it?

I thought of all this as I drove ahead and the significance of that rainbow was not lost upon me. It beckoned me from the southeast where my new adventure would begin, and to the northwest from where I hailed, was dark and brooding with foul weather. I made my choice on that lonely and desolate highway to take the chance to experience something new, challenging and foreign. And even though I don't cook professionally any longer, I have never regretted that decision to this day as it opened doors for even greater experiences, travel, people, and growth in life that I could never have imagined driving through those endless miles of orange groves so many years ago.

So today I saw a sign. Slightly less insignificant, but nonetheless beckoning. On a cloudy morning in the port-a-potty I found a glowing fragrance cake in the urinal. I'm not sure what it means, but it must mean something.

Maybe all the radiation I am exposed to in my daily work is finally taking it's toll. No wonder I've never had any children!